ICE signs $25M contract with Thomson Reuters for data mining on fraud

Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) has agreed to a five-year contract with Canadian tech conglomerate Thomson Reuters to obtain information on alleged "voter fraud" and "immigration fraud," sparking international controversy. Many observers have expressed wariness over the partnership.

Screening and Vetting of Individuals

While Thomson Reuters is best known for its eponymous news agency Reuters, its data broker division maintains deals with several U.S. government organizations. The latest ICE contract, valued at $25 million per year, directs Thomson Reuters to assist with the "screening and vetting of individuals and entities for immigration, criminal and national security risks," according to the contract document in the Federal Register. Thomson Reuters will also help identify "violations of U.S. immigration and customs laws."

The contract grants ICE access to the company's "databases of personal data — which includes peoples' names, addresses, Social Security numbers, ethnicity, social media posts and geolocation information," reported 404 Media. By signing the document, Thomson Reuters will be "able to let ICE continuously monitor millions of people and entities of interest." Other data sources feeding into Thomson Reuters' program include "credit header data, which is the personal information someone provides to a financial institution to open a credit card, like their address."

The document also states that ICE has a significant need to identify "unaccompanied minors," which will help "support the presidential mandate of the identification of voter fraud, immigration fraud and national security." However, the contract "does not explain why ICE would need to identify unaccompanied minors, which is typically the remit of the Department of Health and Human Services" or how the data "would be used to combat voter fraud or immigration fraud," according to Wired.

'My Blood Ran Cold'

There has been substantial opposition to Thomson Reuters' partnership with ICE, including in Canada, where the company is headquartered. At least one politician, Canadian New Democratic Party Leader Avi Lewis, has urged Prime Minister Mark Carney to block the deal. "My blood ran cold when I read about this development," Lewis told The Guardian. "Complicity between Canadian corporations and ICE should absolutely be illegal."

ICE has been working with Thomson Reuters since at least 2015. However, the new contract is the first to state that the "software will be used to support the Trump administration's objectives of addressing supposed 'voter fraud,'" reported The Guardian. The company has denied any wrongdoing; recent media reporting "reflects misunderstandings about how our products are governed and safeguarded," Thomson Reuters said in a statement. Its products are "provided under strict contractual terms, subject to applicable law and governed by strong safeguards."

It appears some within the company disagree with this assessment. Prior to the contract being signed, 200 Thomson Reuters employees wrote a letter asking the company not to renew its agreement with ICE. "We have experienced our neighbors, friends and family members undergoing arrests and detention, intimidation and harassment, and public violence," said the letter obtained by The New York Times. "We question if our investigative products and services are being used in accordance with our mission and values, as well as in accordance with the law and our nation's constitution."